


Can a Sundrop Melt a Moonrock?

by frynthe



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Character Study, Dorks, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Love Confessions, M/M, Might be OOC, Obliviousness, Oneshot, Pining, Rare Pair, Rivals to Lovers, analogies, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:47:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22818001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frynthe/pseuds/frynthe
Summary: What if the sun weren’t there?Would the celebrated beauty of the moon’s light glow bright in the blue night sky?In fact, would the moon itself, be seen at all?
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 15
Kudos: 128





	Can a Sundrop Melt a Moonrock?

_What if the sun weren’t there?_

_Would the celebrated beauty of the moon’s light glow bright in the blue night sky?_

_In fact, would the moon itself, be seen at all?_

“No, no it won’t. Scientifically, and not even figuratively speaking.” Tsukishima’s lids shut as he felt irritation grow on his face.

  
_What if Hinata wasn’t there?_

  
_Would he have pushed his body to such lengths just to improve at one sport he had such a distaste for after what it did to his brother and their relationship?_

  
_Would he have continued volleyball at all?_

“Great. Of all people in this world, it had to be him.” He turned the volume up on his headphones, hoping the calming music would drown out the thoughts… rather _facts_ away.

  
It didn’t help, for the first time--- no, for some time now. To imagine that his usual and foolproof remedy for everything had failed him was just telling how much this was a matter not to be taken lightly.

  
The classical music was loud.

  
But his heart was louder. And growing ever louder.

_What if Hinata wasn’t there?_

  
_Would he have formed lasting genuine connections with people he never thought of being fully close with in the first place?_

  
_Would his strained relationship with his brother remain the way it was?_

  
_Would he have ever learned how to smile alongside these people called his teammates and friends, out of pure bliss after a victorious match?_

  
“Shut. Up.” Halfway through placing his unsteady hand on his chest, he can already feel that drumming sensation.

  
The cold moon had accepted the warm light of the sun.

  
But will the other even be welcoming of the frigid, passive and smaller beneficiary of its sunrays?

  
“You know the answer to that, big brain.” He didn’t like to admit the irony of their metaphorical selves being so physically opposite to what they actually were.

  
He was a small moon, but Hinata was the potent sun.

  
He was tall, and Hinata wasn’t.

  
His heart had the littlest of openings; Hinata had a big heart.

  
His brain was big, Hinata’s wasn’t.

  
He snorted at that last one. Good job, Kei. _A mental high five for that._

  
Hinata had always been kind, casually polite and if he did ever retort to someone who offended him (one of which was the blonde, everybody knows that), it was really half-hearted. Who could ever hate the slowpoke midget with the orange tufts of hair?

Tsukishima did. But not because of the reason one would expect. He hated the man’s significance in his maturity as an overall person.

When they first met, everything that ever came out of his mouth was nothing short of subtle rage and resentment toward the demeanor they showed him. They were all enthusiastic in some club sport.

_Why?_

Then this Hinata person knew how to get on his nerves by being his exact opposite. Needless to say, the little middle blocker was the poor soul who's most frequent receiving end of unnerving remarks from him.

All because he was hating on how much Hinata was changing him, well maybe not only him, everyone else definitely got to develop themselves because of the blocker too. 

If the midget wanted it, he could easily shift the mood of the whole team. That was proven correct more times than he can count.

Hinata's influence was a sun that can dye the skies with its bright color alone. And he was a part of that sky. A small dot. The moon.

Tsukishima was and always had been an insufferable spawn of the sarcasm universe, but the rest of his closest friends knew he didn’t mean any of it, it was part of his identity.

It became all bark and no bite anymore.

When Hinata took the spotlight and commanded his attention everytime.

_What if Hinata wasn’t there?_

  
_Would Tsukishima have shone this bright and be seen in a positive light by peers and spectators alike? Would he have all this overflowing, unbearable (most of the time) public attention resulting from the ever so solid pull of the Hinata magnet™?_

  
_Would he be this bothered by this simple fact at all:_

It was the airhead’s birthday tomorrow.

  
“So? I’m not required to get him anything now, do I? I’m not his _boyfriend_ or anythin-” The tall blonde almost snapped the ball pen he was holding in two, his distraught showing through the slurred line now drawn on the notebook page.

Well, he can’t do summer homework like this when another ‘summer’ homework was occupying his head entirely.

_What._ Can’t he just get him a gift as a friend?

“What on earth is wrong with me today?” Or for over a year. His chair lightly screeched against the floor as he stood up and made it to his bed.

  
Did he maybe want to be his---

  
“Hinata, I hope you trip and fall into a hellhole.” An arm covered his eyes as he smirked. Then frowned.

* * *

  
“ _Achoo_!!!” Hinata immediately wiped his hand with the back of his palm as the volleyball he set up in the air dropped on his head like a coconut. “Oww!”

  
“Brother! What did I tell you about changing clothes after a few hours? Look at you, you’re all soaked! The summer heat is unbearable, even at night, so you gotta be more careful!" Natsu huffs in concerned stance. "Let’s go inside and as punishment no more practice for the rest of the evening!" She pinched one of his ears as Hinata moaned an _eeeeeeh_ in defeat.

  
"Can I at least stare at the moon later?" Hinata gently rubbed his swelling ear. “... It’s beautiful, as always.” He added in a whisper, the moonlight reflected in his eyes. White illumination fell and clung on his skin like a veil, desaturating his strikingly orange hair.

That platinum orb had its own way of consoling people with its rays.

"That you can do! As a matter of fact, let me join you later. For now, let's eat! I'm starving!" Natsu grinned as she walked back inside the house, bouncing on her steps.

"... Heh, I wish _you_ saw that you're just as beautiful as your counterpart too. Stuuupid." Hinata solemnly whispered to himself before turning around to let himself back into their house.

* * *

  
What else would the blessed sun wish for that he didn’t already have?

  
Height—was out of the question.

  
Unless... he wanted another person like that by his side. Then he can give him that. He could be his hugging beanpole if he wanted. Whatever did that mean.

But what made him think it was only he who could fulfill that requirement?

There were rivals. The King. The Grand King. The other setters. Literally everyone else, really. He was too magnetic for his own good. He had options. And he wasn't even aware of it. How infuriating.

So, what made Kei so different?

_What if the moon weren't there?_

_Would the sun's role be any less significant?_

_Would its sunrays be any less blinding?_

  
No.

  
_Would the sun be able to exist independently without it?_

  
Yes.

  
"Yeah, thought so." He removed his headphones, rolled to his side facing the windows as the full moon caught his amber eyes. "Huh. Have you ever wished you could be right beside the one thing giving you that ethereal glow?" Was that question for the moon or himself, he wasn't sure anymore. 

  
Before Tsukishima knew it, he fell asleep under the moon's ivory watch.

* * *

And so.

He crammed the homework the next day.

All right. That was the call. He really wasn't being his usual self.

The present he bought better be the right one. Tsukishima knew he looked shit and stressed out after he battled with his own thoughts the other night, (who knows it might have been going on for more than a year) but it's now or never. He wouldn't be enduring another one fighting his inner voices. He needed to make a move now. He had to tell the dimwit. 

Well, somehow.

  
So he decided it had to be on the most significant day in the midget's life. His birthday.

  
Sarcasm mode was turned off _—you abso-fucking-lutely cannot ruin this one chance, Kei_ —for today. 

  
"Hinata." Tsukishima called him as soon as he noticed his tangerine hair among the small crowd of students exiting the school gates.

"T-Tsukishima, you gave me a scare! Never gets old." Creases formed on his uniform as Hinata clenched his chest and heaved a sigh, the locks of his hair bouncing as he did. "What's up? There's no practice today, what are you still here for—" 

"Is volleyball the only thing in your head, idiot?—"

Hinata was a blabberhead. He's also deaf. _Amazing_.

"—oh, were you waiting for someone? Wait, no, Yamaguchi went on ahead, didn't he? _Oho_ , do you have a date? Dammit, all you guys are leaving me behind in everything! I feeeeeel so irritated right now." Hinata's hair got ruffled as he scratched it furiously. "H-Huh? You were saying something?"

  
Why did he fall for this man again?

  
"Just come— Will you come with me to the park?" Tsukishima's voice came out as mocking out of habit, much to his annoyance. 

  
"Geez, asking me like that won't normally make me say yes, but since you're my _friend_ , I'll let it slide this time!" A vein popped in the taller man's forehead, mentally cussing god knows what curses to this oblivious blockhead but the agile Hinata lightly elbowed Tsukishima's arm with a stupid smile and began running. "Whoever comes last will treat the other ice cream! Hehe!" 

  
_This idiot...!_

  
And Tsukishima came last to the deserted park. Panting for his life after a goddamn sprint. Great. Can Tsukishima run that fast after he's done professing—confessing— _urgh_ —telling this man how he felt?

He's been fighting his thoughts for at least a year, barely got his homework done, pining like some lovesick teenage girl all because of this boy who he now owes an ice cream. How worse could this day get? The very same boy rejecting him?

  
No, anything but that. _I'd hate that_. Tsukishima shook his head, even though he knew the prospect of that happening was high in his head. The boy of interest disrupted his thinking with that high pitched voice of his.

  
"I win!!! You owe me an ice cream! And you know, it's my—" Hinata hummed as he balanced himself on a railing. The sun was setting behind the boy, almost turning him into a silhouette. As if he was slowly getting enveloped by that warm orange tint. 

Meanwhile, the moon’s shape was forming in the distance, its dull gray color becoming brighter by the minute.

"Yes. Your birthday. I'll just cut to the chase, got it?" Tsukishima carefully sifted through his bag, hoping his present wasn't ruined by the very person who was supposed to receive it. Thankfully, it still seemed to be in good shape. _Thanks for making me sprint like that, idiot._

He hoped that by the time he finally said the _words_ , his heartbeat had already calmed down. Who knows, as impulsive as Hinata was, his rejection could be just as quick.

This was Tsukishima they were talking about after all. Unprecedented god of insults and ultimate saltiness. _It was good though_ , he thought.

No cliffhangers, just no-bullshit bluntness.

A treatment fit for the likes of him.

"Here, your present." Tsukishima pushed forward a black, striped paper bag in front of the smaller boy.

Hinata's brows scrunched as his eyes landed on the bag, then at him, then at the bag again, tilting his head to examine it, followed by a finger cautiously poking the bag. 

Tsukishima only rolled his eyes. Hinata continued with his gestures.

"... It's not a bomb, is it?" _Can I just flush all these feelings away now? All this stupidity should be turning me off right now._ _Dammit._

"What do you take me for? Some killer out to eliminate you? And even if that were a bomb, I’d get killed _too_ , blockhead. Beats the purpose, don’t you think?" Oh no, his sarcasm was starting to show again.

"Well to be fair your insults could kill." With a snark, Hinata darted his brown eyes up at Tsukishima’s own golden pairs. 

"Damn it, Hinata. just take it." The hand holding the bag was shaking, inspite of himself.

Seeing the blonde's averted gaze and trembling hand, Hinata gently took the bag and stared at it for a good second, their hands barely brushing against each other.

"Hmm… What's this, a cake?" Tsukishima remained silent as Hinata opened the bag containing a single slice of the dessert, the sweet smell of its flavor was so fragrant that it made him want to snatch it back from the orange head.

"... And it's... a strawberry shortcake. Huh. Let me guess, is this because I'm short? Very funny, Tsukishima." The blonde could’ve sworn he saw Hinata's hair droop as his shoulders did.

"No, it's because you're my favorite, stupid." 

Hinata just stood there, motionless as his irises went blank, still somehow directed at the cake inside. Seconds passed into minutes and the silence wore down Tsukishima's patience.

" _Oh_ , the usually, unreasonably noisy Hinata is giving someone the silent treatment? Well, isn't that new?” _Hinata, now’s not the time I want you to be quiet._

His sarcasm was leaking. His front was cracking.

“It's only normal for someone to share his most favorite food with his favorite person, right?" Tsukishima felt his face heat up. Out of embarrassment. Why couldn't he just straight up say he liked him? It was only three words. Three. I. Like. You. Easy as pie for a man with such straightforwardness. Yet here he was, complicating things. Dig his grave deeper. Not to mention this man in front of him wasn't exactly the brightest student out there.

Was he talking to someone at all? _Ah, dead air, hello there._ His anxiety was rising.

"What, you don't want it? You can give it back; I'll gladly eat it." That's it, that's how he'll escape this rejection right in front of him. _At least give me a proper answer._ _I deserve at least that, idiot._

Eat his feelings and shit it out. He wished it were _that_ easy.

_What if there wasn't a Hinata?_

  
_Would he be this talkative despite his usually, reserved nature?_

  
_Would he be this helpless in the name of l-l-love? Fuck. That was a subject he didn't know like the back of his hand, was it?_

  
"Alright, don’t respond. It’s fine.” _No, give me an answer. Put an end to this bothersome feeling._

  
“Also, I'll keep the shortcake joke in mind for future purposes. Gotta thank you for that, shorty birthday boy Hinata. All right, I'm off. Happy birthday." 

Tsukishima ultimately turned to his best defense, his rockhard sarcasm. What mattered was that he finally let it out.

Wanting to spare whatever remained of his dignity, he was to walk out of this mess when,

  
"Eh?"

  
_Eh?_

  
Clouds of steam whistled their way out of the idiot’s ears, face beet red, as his eyes and mouth equally grew wide. "D-d-d-d-did you just... confess to me?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake Hinata, how slow can you possibly get? I’m out of here. Forget I said anything." Ah. He felt even more humiliated than he was minutes ago.

"T-T-T-Tsukishima, yo-you! Me? Huh? Why me?" _No idea, I ask myself that either._ Hinata’s voice grew distant as he paced his steps faster. ”Huh, wait-! Why are you walking away? I haven’t even-”

“TSU-KI-SHI-MAAAAAAAAAA!!!” Tsukishima heard quick dashing steps and before he knew it, something crashed on his back, almost catching him off balance. Thank the gods for his massive height.

Though he’d be lying if he said the sensation of bone against bone didn’t hurt. “Kuh! What the hell was that for-” He wasn't ready for what he saw next, and _heard._

"This is the best birthday present I've ever received!"

Ah. there it was. That... angeli—inhuman smile. 

" _Kei_ , you're my favorite person too! What are the odds!" It all happened too fast, as was his heartbeat at the moment. The small ball of sunshine embraced the moon and he couldn't help but internally note to himself, _so this is what it feels like to actually be in complete contact with the sun_. It burned, but in a good way. Tsukishima was too lost in the moment that the words which came out of the other came out as a mutter. “Huh?”

“Say it again. Properly this time.” Hinata was staring right into his eyes, a plead for his request to be done. “No,” was what he said with a straight face.

“ _Eeeeeeh_... Okay then would you say it if I said it too? Here goes.” 

“Wait I never said I wou-”

“I like you, Kei. Please go out with me.” Hinata’s flustered but fixed expression was priceless. _Shit, that was a fast blow._ As if on cue, Tsukishima swiftly led Hinata's head to rest onto his chest, “I like you too, _Shouyou_.” Hinata could probably hear the abnormally fast heartrate that will betray his taut façade, but all went down the drain when he began ruffling Hinata's hair. _Is this a humanized teddy bear?_

"I can't believe I got two presents for today! From Kei, no less!" A chuckle escaped the smaller man's mouth, tone akin to a triumphant soldier who had just won a battle.

Tsukishima felt another foreign fuzzy feeling growing within him, but this time he was sure it wasn't one worth worrying about.

He was fine. They were fine.

It wasn't a dream. 

They stood there for a few minutes, uncaring of the possible reactions of passing strangers.

Did you see the moon yesterday? It was beautiful.” The taller boy felt the arms tighten around his back. He couldn’t help but smile a little. “Yeah, and you probably don’t know this, but the sun makes it possible for us to see and say so.” Tsukishima deadpanned.

"You know, as much as I envy your intellect, Mr. Smartypantshima—Kei, not all things need to be justified with facts all the time.

"... Because probably for the moon, it has always been breathtaking, the sun only had a hand in making people see and appreciate it. But it has always been beautiful on its own, at least in its mind, with or without the sun. Don't you think so?"

Oh.

_Oh._

Tsukishima fell silent at that sudden comment. He didn't know the face he briefly made but whatever it was, he hoped the smaller boy didn't get a chance to see it.

Hinata was correct, wasn't he? He really was the dumb one in this situation.

"Yeaaah, you're _stupid_." Stupidly insightful. At the right time, and the right place. "Why are you giving the moon a brain now? Why not get yourself one first?"

"Can't you just step down from your mighty pedestal of saltiness sometimes? Geez~"

"Can you stop being an idiot most of the time, then?"

"Hey!"

"Then you get my point." Hinata burst out laughing and Tsukishima held his hand as they started to walk away from the park. "Whatever, you're still getting me an ice cream!" Hinata stuck out his tongue at his boyfriend.

_What if there were no sun?_

Then the moon child that was Tsukishima Kei wouldn’t be graced by one of its kind in the name of Hinata Shouyou.

_What if there wasn't a Hinata?_

  
_Would he be able to envelope him in a warm hug, hear his laugh, stand alongside him in anything?_

_Would there be a constant reminder that he was able to shine on his own? That he had his own gleam?_

No, none at all.

_And Tsukishima wouldn't dare wish he were in that timeline._

**Author's Note:**

> one word: rarepairs.  
> they are: underrated.


End file.
